Nineteenth-Century British Pantomime

From 1844 to 1888 the chief "writer" of pantomime scenarios was E. L.
Blanchard, whose annual Christmastide offerings became a standard
feature of Drury Lane for over forty years and earned him the titles
"The Prince of Openings" and "The King of Pantomime Writers." However,
Blanchard himself referred to these seasonal offerings as "Annuals." He
used the pen name "Francesco Frost," and, when in partnership with T. L.
Greenwood, "The Brothers Grimm." His pantos graced the stages of such
London theatres as the Marleybone, Sadler's Wells, the Surrey, the
Princess's and Convent Garden. For the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, alone
he wrote 37 pantos, beginning with (December 1852).
Typical of his openings was an allegorical debate between such figures
as Antiquity and Improvement, and Ignorance and Education.

Just before the enactment of the 1843 Theatre Regulation Act, which
permitted even London's "minor" theatres to stage "legitimate" drama (i.
e., plays without music), burletta and pantomime, together with
melodrama, were the dominant genres.